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Uganda’s Museveni to become leader of Non-Aligned Movement

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Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will succeed President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan as head of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)— the second-largest group of nations after the United Nations.

The East African nation will also host the NAM Summit in Kampala in January 2024 and then go on to chair the Global South Association of 120 countries from January 2024 to January 2026.

Speaking on his country’s preparedness to host the summit, during the week, the chairperson of the National Organising Committee, Lucy Nakyobe said the focus would be on bringing together leaders from around the world to address pressing global issues and foster cooperation among member nations.

Despite recent travel warning issued by the US and UK embassies due to concerns about terrorism in the nation which has also fallen out with Western powers over its legislation against the LGBTQ community, she reassured the world that Uganda remained safe.

“I assure you all that the country is secure and ready to receive the international visitors coming in January. We are ready for our guests. But I still call upon the general public to remain vigilant,” Nakyobe said.

Museveni emphasised that, because of its neutrality on global matters, his nation was the ideal host. As it did in the 11th Emergency Session of the UN General Assembly vote on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 31 African nations supported a resolution stating the “Principles of the UN Charter” and calling for a “comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine.” Uganda abstained in the vote which saw 141 member states vote in favour, seven voting against, and 32 abstaining.

ICT and National Guidance Minister, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi announced that Uganda would also host the G77 + China conference from January 20 to 23, 2024, one day after hosting the NAM.

During a recent visit to Uganda in May, Pedroso Cuesta Pedro Luis, the chairman of the Group of 77 (G77) countries, confirmed that Uganda was prepared to host the Third Summit.

The South Summit is the Group of 77’s highest decision-making body. The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 forced the postponement of the First and Second South Summits, which took place in Havana, Cuba, and Doha, Qatar, respectively.

Amidst the challenges posed by emerging power centres that deviate from the conventional global blocs, the summit will facilitate discourse and analysis on common interests. Some perceive the hosting rights as an indication of Africa’s increasing influence on the international arena.

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Ethiopia, Somalia agree to resolve Somaliland port conflict

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Ethiopia and Somalia agreed to cooperate in settling a disagreement over Addis Ababa’s proposal to construct a port in Somaliland. This breakaway area had attracted regional powers, posing a further threat to the stability of the Horn of Africa.

Following discussions facilitated by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, the leaders of the two nations said that they had reached an agreement to create business agreements that would provide landlocked Ethiopia “reliable, secure and sustainable access to and from the sea.”

The meeting was their first since Ethiopia announced in January that it would recognise the independence of Somaliland, a breakaway entity in northern Somalia, in exchange for leasing a port there.

The agreement was rejected by Mogadishu, which also threatened to drive out Ethiopian forces fighting Islamist terrorists in Somalia.

Somaliland, which has governed itself and had relative peace and stability since announcing its independence in 1991, is opposed by Somalia to international recognition.

Ethiopia and Somalia announced in a joint statement issued late Wednesday that they had agreed to begin technical talks by the end of February of next year and to wrap them up in four months.

“This joint declaration focuses on the future, not the past,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara afterwards.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed praised Turkish attempts to settle the conflict, while Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared he was prepared to cooperate with Ethiopia.

The dispute has brought Somalia closer to Eritrea, another of Ethiopia’s longstanding enemies, and Egypt, which has been at odds with Ethiopia for years over Addis Ababa’s development of a massive hydro project on the Nile River.

Ethiopia and Somalia are close partners of Turkey, which provides development aid and security force training to Somalia in exchange for a foothold on a vital international shipping route.

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Officials report fight between Somalia’s Jubbaland region, central govt

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After Jubbaland staged an election against the advice of the Mogadishu administration, officials claimed on Wednesday that fighting had broken out between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Jubbaland region of Somalia.

“This morning, federal forces from Mogadishu in Ras Kamboni, using drones, attacked Jubbaland forces,” Adan Ahmed Haji, assistant security minister of Jubbaland, told a press conference in Jubbaland’s capital Kismayu.

Response requests were not immediately answered by Interior Minister Yusuf Ali or Information Minister Daud Aweis of the national administration.

Jubbaland, one of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous republics that borders Ethiopia and Kenya, elected regional president Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe to a third term in late November.

 

Jubbaland has the potential to be one of Somalia’s richest districts due to its location and natural resources, but for more than 20 years, violence has kept it permanently unsettled.

There are no explicit guidelines in the Somali constitution regarding the establishment of recently formed federal entities or their interactions with the national government.

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